I sincerely believe that it is far more beneficial and far less costly to help a child build confidence than it is to fix an adult who has little or none.

What is a habit?

by imconfident on September 27, 2014

A habit is a behaviour that you do repeatedly until it becomes automatic. Once you have done the same thing over and over again for a period of time, you don’t even think about it anymore. We develop good habits and we develop bad habits. The good habits push us forward so we can enjoy a happy and successful life. The bad habits are the ones that hold us back and cause problems in our lives.

If you want to stop your bad habits, you need to:

clearly define your bad, negative habits

make a list

number them in priority sequence starting with the one you would like to change the most

determine what new, positive habits you can develop to overcome your bad habits

stopping a bad habit is hard unless you have something to replace it with

thinking about new habits will fill up your time with positive energy

create an action plan

decide which new habit you are going to work on first and the steps you need to take

write down the steps in a journal, daybook or calendar for 21 consecutive days (research shows it takes about 21-30 days to develop a new habit)

each day, follow these steps until you feel confident your habit is well established

if you slip backwards or miss a day, keep going and don’t give up

at the end of 21 days if you haven’t reached your goal, continue for another 21 days until the habit is set

celebrate your successes

at certain points (weekly, biweekly, monthly) reward yourself with a small treat or special event as a motivation to yourself

Do you know what your bad habits are? Maybe some of these sound familiar?

being late for work, school, appointments, meetings

hitting the snooze button more than once before getting up in the morning

procrastinating on paying bills, filing taxes, keeping house clean, working on projects

talking instead of listening

not spending time with family, friends

forgetting important dates and occasions

not returning phone calls and emails

not eating proper meals

avoiding regular exercise

not keeping promises

answering cell phones and texts continuously

surfing the internet, playing video games

trying to control everyone around you

biting nails, tapping fingers

Changing a bad habit can be very difficult but also very possible with commitment. Developing new, positive habits can transform your life. Replacing bad habits with good habits will improve your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self. Having good habits will increase self-esteem and help you overcome: